How to Overcome Exam Fear

Exams are a way of assessing what a student has learned during the academic year. Apart from this, it is also a method through which the student's learning and grasping abilities are evaluated and graded by the teacher. This makes it very important for students to learn well, and achieve good scores in the exam. However, for most students, exams bring with it lot of tension, stress and anxiety. The main reason for this is because of increased pressure that they receive from their parents and teachers to perform well in the exams. Although a little bit of fear and anxiousness is important to study and learn before the exams, too much tension can hamper the student's ability to do well. Many times, due to exam-related fright, students tend to forget what they have learned, thus scoring less than they could have. Hence, it is extremely crucial for students to learn about how to reduce fear, so that they can give their examination confidently, subsequently earning good grades.

Tips to Keep Fear Away During Exams
Students who are suffering from such fear are likely to experience problems like difficulty in concentrating while studying, confusion, feeling tensed while looking at difficult questions, feeling blank, dizziness, sweating, sleeplessness, etc. All these factors can cause the student to feel more anxious which can affect his performance during the exam. Hence, students should know how to avoid fear and do well during the examinations.

Prepare Well in Advance
One of the most common reasons for the student to feel fear is lack of preparation. There are many students who take studies lightly, thus leaving everything to be studied at the last minute. This will surely cause anxiety as the student does not know where to start, and what to study. Hence, the easiest way of overcoming this problem is to start studying much before the exam. Studying regularly, what is taught in the class will save you lot of time to revise before the exams. Also, as you have studied everything already, you will not feel tense that you have not prepared an important topic or subject.

Learn, Do Not Mug Up
One of the mistakes that many students make is that they mug up without understanding what they are studying. Students must understand that this is not the correct way of studying. Moreover, the chances of forgetting is more, when one has memorized without understanding. Hence, it is very important to first understand the concept that one is studying and then, memorizing it. In this way, you will never forget any important point. Also, you will be able to present the points in your own words, even if you do not remember the answer word to word. Understanding the concept, before memorizing will actually lead to effective learning.

Make Time to Relax
Examination time does not mean that you have to sit with your books the entire day. This actually should be avoided, and one should take regular breaks to relax and refresh one's mind. Indulge in some kind of exercises like walking, jogging or playing your favorite sport during the break. Apart from this, listening to music, talking to friends and family, will also help you in relaxing during your exam time. However, it would be better to avoid watching television or browsing the Internet during this time. This is because, many students are addicted to television and Internet and one is likely to waste time on it, more than what was intended.

Revise Properly
The last few weeks before the examination should be spent by revising each subject, in order to prevent anxiety in students. Plan out a timetable in such a way that you get equal time to revise every topic. During this time, you can make some small notes which will make it easier for you to remember points and revise them quickly. If you are concerned about your writing speed, practicing solving a question paper of a previous year would give you more confidence. It will also help you in knowing what you should take care while writing your exam paper.

Additional Tips
Apart from the above tips, here are some more points that will help students to cope with the anxiety which begins with the arrival of exams. Here is some more information on exam preparation tips.

• One very important thing that students should remember, is to avoid studying anything new just before the exam. This will cause more anxiety and you may forget what you have already learned.
• It is also important to avoid having conversations with your friends about what they have studied, how much they have studied. This will make you more tense and nervous.
• If you are feeling very tense and anxious, just before entering the examination venue, take a few deep breaths which will help you to relax.
• During the exam, if you get tensed or blank after seeing difficult questions, skip them for the time being and attempt questions which you find easier. Once you have completed them, go back to the difficult ones. In this way, you will surely be able to answer them confidently.

However, along with the students, even parents have the responsibility to make sure that their children do not go through any kind of tension or stress during exams. Many times, children experience fear because of the pressure that parents put on them. Although this is important, they must see to it that they do not go overboard and pressurize their children so much, that they are not able to study anything. Parents must understand that each student has certain capabilities and encouraging them to study can help them in appearing for their exams confidently.